Floridians love to gamble.
In fact, Sunshine State residents rank ninth in the country when it comes to visiting casinos, ''a surprise, given the lack of convenient gaming destinations for Florida residents,'' according to a 2003 study by Harrah's Entertainment.
It's also a surprise since Florida voters have defeated three referendums since 1979 to bring casino gambling to the state, the last one in 1994.
''Some people like it but don't care to have it close to home,'' said Judy Cornelius, associate director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno.
Like it or not, Las Vegas-scale casinos have arrived in Florida with today's opening of the ritzy $279 million Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood and its slightly smaller but no less glitzy sister Hard Rock in Tampa, which debuted in March.
The Hard Rocks cannot by law offer such full Vegas-style casino games and gaming equipment as blackjack and slot machines, but they've got all the amenities and flash of the desert destination.
And they're expected to be a hit in a state that has turned down big-time commercial casinos but that abounds in avid gamblers, especially in South Florida, where residents frequent seven dog tracks, horse tracks and jai-alai frontons, gambling ''cruises to nowhere,'' the Miccosukee Indian casino and the Seminoles' old bingo hall, next to the flashy Hard Rock.
`COMPETITIVE MARKET'
''This is probably the most competitive market in the country,'' said C. Kenneth Dunn, president of Calder Race Course.
It may get more competitive. For the second time since 2001, local tracks and frontons are pushing to get a question on the November ballot about installing ''video-lottery terminals'' in their facilities. The machines are similar to the electronic bingo and slot-style machines in American Indian casinos.
''We're state licensed and pay taxes,'' said John Knox, general manager of Dania Jai-Alai. ''Something needs to be done to level the playing field with the Indians and the cruise boats,'' gambling activities that are not regulated by the state.
Some say Florida is shooting itself in the foot by not readily expanding gaming, especially since the Seminoles operate casinos anyway. The 11 states that have legalized casino gambling reap hundreds of millions of dollars from fees that American Indians don't pay for licensing and slot machines as well as taxes on revenue.
''Florida's getting the gambling, but it's not getting any money out of it,'' said Michael K. Evans, chairman of Boca Raton consultancy Evans, Carroll & Associates.
Opponents, however, call that a small price to pay for avoiding the social ills, such as compulsive gambling, that casinos encourage or the bureaucratic nightmare that regulating them creates.
Once allowed in, gambling changes a community, and not for the better, said former Miami Beach Mayor Seymour Gelber, who was active in promoting the nay vote in 1994.
''It would take over all the hotels, create traffic. We'd have slot machines in grocery stores. Who needs that?'' Gelber said. ``We'd have the same type of situation as Las Vegas, which was built to be a gambling empire, and it is.''
The possibility of allowing the likes of Trump and MGM Mirage to set up in Florida appears minute, at least for the short term. Gov. Bush is opposed to more gaming in the state and last month even vetoed a measure to permit charities to sell scratch-off bingo tickets.
GOVERNOR AGAINST IT
''The governor's position is very clear: He's opposed to any expansion of gambling,'' spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.
And that, the parimutuel industry says, is unfair. Industry representatives say they've already been harmed by the different regulations for American Indians, who allow patrons to smoke on premises. Under a state law that went into effect last summer, customers cannot smoke at parimutuels, restaurants or other public places.
''We saw business decline 10 percent since the ban went into effect,'' Calder's Dunn said, ``and we have not recovered.''
But the process to offer more gambling options at racetracks and frontons won't be easy and involves several steps. The wording of the question is awaiting approval from the state Supreme Court. Backers will then have to submit the necessary 488,722 voter signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
That question would ask voters statewide if they would allow Miami-Dade and Broward voters to hold a separate referendum. And the local referendum would seek permission to allow the gaming machines at the seven parimutuel locations in the two counties.
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR
If both votes pass, the state Legislature would then have to enact the legal framework. The earliest that the gambling machines could be installed would be the end of 2005.
''We have an extremely good chance to have it enacted state and countywide,'' said Daniel Adkins, general manager of the Hollywood Greyhound Track, who is leading the move.
Voters in both counties have approved casinos in previous referendums.
''People here are not opposed to it,'' Gelber said, ``but any move to expand gambling won't succeed because there are people elsewhere in the state who are purists, who oppose any movement out of religious, moralistic reasons.''
Whatever happens, Florida is a key market. All eyes in the gaming industry will be watching closely.
''If the opportunity arose, I can assure you we'd certainly be interested,'' said Gary Thompson, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment in Las Vegas.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8635502.htm?1c
In fact, Sunshine State residents rank ninth in the country when it comes to visiting casinos, ''a surprise, given the lack of convenient gaming destinations for Florida residents,'' according to a 2003 study by Harrah's Entertainment.
It's also a surprise since Florida voters have defeated three referendums since 1979 to bring casino gambling to the state, the last one in 1994.
''Some people like it but don't care to have it close to home,'' said Judy Cornelius, associate director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno.
Like it or not, Las Vegas-scale casinos have arrived in Florida with today's opening of the ritzy $279 million Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood and its slightly smaller but no less glitzy sister Hard Rock in Tampa, which debuted in March.
The Hard Rocks cannot by law offer such full Vegas-style casino games and gaming equipment as blackjack and slot machines, but they've got all the amenities and flash of the desert destination.
And they're expected to be a hit in a state that has turned down big-time commercial casinos but that abounds in avid gamblers, especially in South Florida, where residents frequent seven dog tracks, horse tracks and jai-alai frontons, gambling ''cruises to nowhere,'' the Miccosukee Indian casino and the Seminoles' old bingo hall, next to the flashy Hard Rock.
`COMPETITIVE MARKET'
''This is probably the most competitive market in the country,'' said C. Kenneth Dunn, president of Calder Race Course.
It may get more competitive. For the second time since 2001, local tracks and frontons are pushing to get a question on the November ballot about installing ''video-lottery terminals'' in their facilities. The machines are similar to the electronic bingo and slot-style machines in American Indian casinos.
''We're state licensed and pay taxes,'' said John Knox, general manager of Dania Jai-Alai. ''Something needs to be done to level the playing field with the Indians and the cruise boats,'' gambling activities that are not regulated by the state.
Some say Florida is shooting itself in the foot by not readily expanding gaming, especially since the Seminoles operate casinos anyway. The 11 states that have legalized casino gambling reap hundreds of millions of dollars from fees that American Indians don't pay for licensing and slot machines as well as taxes on revenue.
''Florida's getting the gambling, but it's not getting any money out of it,'' said Michael K. Evans, chairman of Boca Raton consultancy Evans, Carroll & Associates.
Opponents, however, call that a small price to pay for avoiding the social ills, such as compulsive gambling, that casinos encourage or the bureaucratic nightmare that regulating them creates.
Once allowed in, gambling changes a community, and not for the better, said former Miami Beach Mayor Seymour Gelber, who was active in promoting the nay vote in 1994.
''It would take over all the hotels, create traffic. We'd have slot machines in grocery stores. Who needs that?'' Gelber said. ``We'd have the same type of situation as Las Vegas, which was built to be a gambling empire, and it is.''
The possibility of allowing the likes of Trump and MGM Mirage to set up in Florida appears minute, at least for the short term. Gov. Bush is opposed to more gaming in the state and last month even vetoed a measure to permit charities to sell scratch-off bingo tickets.
GOVERNOR AGAINST IT
''The governor's position is very clear: He's opposed to any expansion of gambling,'' spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.
And that, the parimutuel industry says, is unfair. Industry representatives say they've already been harmed by the different regulations for American Indians, who allow patrons to smoke on premises. Under a state law that went into effect last summer, customers cannot smoke at parimutuels, restaurants or other public places.
''We saw business decline 10 percent since the ban went into effect,'' Calder's Dunn said, ``and we have not recovered.''
But the process to offer more gambling options at racetracks and frontons won't be easy and involves several steps. The wording of the question is awaiting approval from the state Supreme Court. Backers will then have to submit the necessary 488,722 voter signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
That question would ask voters statewide if they would allow Miami-Dade and Broward voters to hold a separate referendum. And the local referendum would seek permission to allow the gaming machines at the seven parimutuel locations in the two counties.
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR
If both votes pass, the state Legislature would then have to enact the legal framework. The earliest that the gambling machines could be installed would be the end of 2005.
''We have an extremely good chance to have it enacted state and countywide,'' said Daniel Adkins, general manager of the Hollywood Greyhound Track, who is leading the move.
Voters in both counties have approved casinos in previous referendums.
''People here are not opposed to it,'' Gelber said, ``but any move to expand gambling won't succeed because there are people elsewhere in the state who are purists, who oppose any movement out of religious, moralistic reasons.''
Whatever happens, Florida is a key market. All eyes in the gaming industry will be watching closely.
''If the opportunity arose, I can assure you we'd certainly be interested,'' said Gary Thompson, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment in Las Vegas.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8635502.htm?1c
